Sovereign Wealth Fund

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:00): My question, again, is to the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. Has the minister sought assurances from the Prime Minister that the sovereign wealth fund will not go ahead? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr WHETSTONE: Research conducted by the Group of Eight estimate that a $500 million levy could result in a national loss of 2,800 jobs and 27,800 international student enrolments.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:01): I repeat that there has been no comment made by a federal minister, or indeed the Prime Minister, and that the media commentary that has been drawn on is speculative.

It does have as its origin, of course, that the interim report of the accord raised the question about whether such a fund ought to exist not only in the context, first of all, of saying how important international students are to Australia but also in the context of how we best fund research in this country.

It is true that this country is, I think, unique if not very rare in choosing to raise research income by charging international students. That link is not usually made in other nations, if in any other, and so the report was highlighting the challenge of ensuring that as shocks occur, as happened with the relationship with China over a period of time, those shocks don't translate then into a challenge for how much money we can spend on research. That is a legitimate question to be asking.

I have been participating in ministerial council meetings and have discussed the interim report, and I will continue to be giving feedback to my ministerial colleagues in Canberra.